Green house heating
• Northern parts of country experience cold winters
• Heating system need to be employed
• Along with cooling system for summer
• Southern region greenhouses need only cooling system
• Winter cold effect is not that severe
• When the outside as well as inside night temperature of greenhouse is
below optimal temperature favourable for plant growth, heating of
greenhouse is required.
• Entrapped heat is not sufficient during the nights.
• Heat is always lost from the greenhouse when surroundings are relatively
cooler.
• Heat must be supplied at same rate with which it is lost in order to maintain a
desired temperature.
• Maintenance of desired higher temperature compared with
surroundings needs
• Heating systems
• Heat distribution systems
• For purpose of greenhouse heating
• Conventional systems
• Solar energy can also be used
• Heat can be stored using water and rock storage
• Heat loss can occur in three different modes of heat transfer
• Conduction
• Convection
• Radiation
• Conduction
• Most of heat is lost by conduction covering material of greenhouse
• Different materials like aluminium bars, glass polyethylene and cement partition
walls vary in conduction
• Rate at which each conducts heat from warm interior to colder exterior.
• Good conductor of heat looses more heat in shorter time than a bad conductor.
• Limited ways of insulating covering material without blocking light transmission.
• Dead air space between two covering
• Saving of 40% of heat requirement can be achieved when second covering is applied.
• Greenhouse covered with one layer of polyethylene loses 6.8W of heat
through each square meter of covering every hour when outside
temperature is 1°C lower than outside.
• When second layer of polyethylene is added only 3.97 W/m² is lost.(40%
reduction)
• Convection (air infiltration)
• Through cracks or perforations or leakages in joints around junctions, ventilators,
doors etc.
• Space between panes of glass or FRP, ventilators and doors permit passage of
warm air outside and cold air inside.
• General assumption of volume of air held in greenhouse can be lost
• Every 60 minutes in double layer film plastic or polycarbonate panel greenhouse
• Every 40 minutes in a FRP or a new glass greenhouse
• Every 30 minutes in an old well maintained glass greenhouse
• Every 15 minutes in an old poorly maintained glass greenhouse
• About 10% of total heat loss from a structurally tight glass greenhouse
occurs through infiltration loss
• Radiation
• Long wave radiation of heat energy from warm objects inside the greenhouse.
• This radiant energy passes through air to colder objects without warming the air.
• Rigid covering materials like Glass, vinyl plastic, FRP and water don’t permit
passage of radiant heat whereas polyethylene film permits same to an extent
depending upon thickness and quality of film.
• However, layer of condensed water film or double layer provides a good barrier to
loss of radiant heat.
Heat loss calculation
• Calculate total heat loss from different surface area of greenhouse
• Value is multiplied with climatic factors (temperature and wind velocity)
• Result is then multiplied with greenhouse factors
Heating systems
• Must provide heat to greenhouse at same rate at which it is lost by heat
loss.
• Three popular types
• Unit heater system
• Central heating system
• Radiation heating system
• Solar heating system
Unit heater system
• Warm air is blown from unit heaters that have self contained fireboxes.
• These heaters consist of 3 functional parts
• Fuel is combusted in a firebox to provide heat to exhaust
• Warm exhaust transfers heat to cooler metal walls of tubes.
• Fan in back of unit heater draws in greenhouse air, passing it over
exterior sides of tubes and then out from heater to greenhouse
environment again.
• Cool air passing over hot metal tubes is warmed and air is circulated.
Central heating system
• Central boiler – produces steam or hot water
• Radiating mechanism – to dissipate heat
• Two or more large boilers are in single location.
• Heat is transported in form of hot water or steam through pipe mains to
growing area and several arrangements of heating pipes.
• Can be more efficient than unit heaters especially in large greenhouses.
• Heat is distributed by one of two common methods
• Convection tube method
• Warm air from unit heaters distributed through transparent polyethylene tube
• Heat escapes from tube through holes on either side of tube in small jet streams which
rapidly mix with surrounding air
• Horizontal airflow
• Greenhouse is visualized as large box containing air and uses small horizontal fans for
moving air mass
• Fans are located above plant height and spaced 15m apart in two rows.
• Arrangement is heat originating at one corner of greenhouse is directed from one side to
opposite end and then back along other side of greenhouse.
• Proper arrangement of fans is necessary for effective distribution.
• Radiation heating system
• Gas is burned within pipes suspended overhead in greenhouse
• Warm pipes supply heat to plants.
• Low intensity infrared radiant heaters can save 30% or more fuel compared to
conventional heaters.
• Lower air temperatures are possible since only plants and root substrate are
heated directly by this mode of heating.
• Solar heating system
• Too expensive to be a viable option.
• Found in hobby greenhouses and small commercial firms.
• Components are collector, heat storage facility, exchanger to transfer solar
derived heat to greenhouse air, backup heater and set of controls.
• Based on locations, heat derived can provide 20 -50% of heat requirement.
• Both water and rock energy storage systems are used in combination with
solar energy.
• High cost of solar heating system makes it insignificant in greenhouse use.
